HAMDEN, Conn. – After reeling off seven straight wins in a little over a week, the Quinnipiac softball team couldn't make it eight as Fairfield downed the Bobcats, 5-2, on Tuesday afternoon from QU Softball Field. The loss drops Quinnipiac to 14-24 on the season while the Bobcats' future MAAC foe Fairfield improves to 20-15.

Sophomore Jordan Paolucci (Lake Mary, Fla.) and freshman Courtney Solt (Boyertown, Pa.) both led the way for the Bobcats as they each tallied two hits while Solt scored one of the two Quinnipiac runs. Sophomore pitcher Hannah Lindsley (Narragansett, R.I.) took the loss despite throwing 4.1 solid innings with just two earned runs allowed on four hits.

The Stags put forth a dominate performance on the mound as three pitchers combined for six hits allowed and no earned runs. Rae Ball started for Fairfield and gave up three hits and the two runs but picked up the victory while Rebecca Trott entered in the seventh and picked up her first save of the season. Lauren Liseth was a big problem for the Bobcat pitchers all afternoon as she doubled and tripled while scoring two runs and driving two more in to lead the way for the Stags.

The game started with a heavy downpour as the rain definitely played a role in the game's first two innings before the sun began to poke back through the clouds. A throwing error on a pickoff play at second base allowed Liseth to score all the way home as the ball sailed all the way to the outfield for the early lead.

Quinnipiac also took advantage of the rain-soaked play as Solt was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a groundout. Senior Alex Alba (Sylmar, Calif.) then walked while Solt moved up another base after a passed ball. Then a wild pitch from Ball allowed Solt to score and later Alba scored on another passed ball to make it a 2-1 Bobcat lead without recording a base hit.

Lindsley had command of the game through the second and into the third as she allowed a leadoff walk but then recorded the next outs before Liseth once again had other ideas as she slapped an RBI triple to deep right center field that tied the score at 2-2.

She battled back in the fourth with a strong pitching effort as she was faced with runners on second and third with one out but she induced a strikeout and line out to end the inning without any damage.

Quinnipiac had a prime opportunity in the fourth as they loaded the bases with two outs as senior Kortney Kesses (Woodbridge, Conn.) walked, Solt singled and senior Lauren Salgado (Covina, Calif.) walked to fill up the bags with Bobcats but Ball had other ideas as she induced a groundout back to the mound to keep the game tied.

The Stags carried the momentum into the fifth as Liseth doubled to left center to score Kristen Filicia from second and help push Fairfield into the lead, 3-2.

They extended their lead in the sixth and seventh innings as Kimi Kurata knocked an RBI triple and Taylor August added some insurance with an RBI single in the closing stages of the game.

The Bobcats would still threaten in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Nikki Barba (San Diego, Calif.) and Paolucci both hit two-out singles to put the game-tying run at the plate but Trott induced a pop out to the shortstop to end the game.

Quinnipiac's seven-game winning streak is no more but they will look to carry their strong play of late into a non-conference weekday road doubleheader at Harvard on Thursday before taking on Fairfield at home on Saturday for another doubleheader.